Investment Law beneficiary projects increased 79.3% in 2022

AMMAN — The value of projects that applied for Investment Law benefits in 2022 increased to JD1.1 billion compared with JD621 million in 2021, marking a growth of 79.3 per cent, the Investment Ministry announced on Tuesday.

There were 434 beneficiary projects in 2022, with the industrial sector accounting for the biggest share of investment volume at JD648.6 million, or 58.3 per cent, of total registered investments, followed by tourism projects at JD233 million, or 21 per cent, according to a ministry statement.

Hospitals and medical centres came third at JD136 million, or 12.3 per cent, followed by the ICT sector at JD55.5 million, or 5 per cent, and the agricultural sector at JD37.8 million, or 3.4 per cent of total investment volume.

The ministry data showed that these projects are expected to create 21,000 jobs.

The ministry explained that the volume of domestic and foreign investments benefiting from the Investment Law witnessed a significant rise in 2022, with domestic investments increase by 76.9 per cent to total JD976.3 million, and foreign investments going up by 98.3 per cent to reach JD137 million.

Outside of development zones, 363 projects benefitted from the Investment Law in 2022, with an investment volume of JD1.051 billion, constituting 94.4 per cent of total investments, the ministry said.

There were 71 projects within the development zones, with an investment volume of around JD62 million, constituting 5.6 per cent of total investment volume.

According to the ministry, the rise in total investments benefiting from the Investment Law in 2022 is an indicator of economic recovery and a response to government measures to create an enabling investment environment and encourage the business community to expand investment and productive activities.

The increase is a reflection of the government's endeavours to enhance investors' confidence in the investment environment in Jordan, and to ensure that the Kingdom has investment-attractive elements for investors, the ministry said.

The ministry added that it seeks to enable local investments in addition to increasing the flow of investments during 2023 through its action plan, which is aligned with the goals of the Economic Modernisation Vision to accommodate the challenge of providing new jobs for Jordanians over the next decade.